Pambanar, Kumily District
From Behind the Wheel: Coconut Oil Stand
Pambanar, Kumily District
Entrepreneurial Conservation Embraced By A Great Designer
Today’s New York Times’ regular feature called The Boss provides one man’s self-described transition from the pinnacle of consumer tech design, which he helped establish, to a greener entrepreneurial form of the same:
After years of work at Apple, designing iPods and iPhones, the founder of Nest Labs now makes a self-programming thermostat that enables homeowners to save energy. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Wooly-necked Stork
Photo Credit: Mr. Vijay Mampilly
Bandipur National Park, Karnataka
National Geographic Over the Years
NatGeo’s magazine covers over the years, stitched together from individual photos I took at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C.
As National Geographic celebrates its 125th year of journalism, it is interesting to see how small things, like the magazine covers and the information they conveyed, have changed. In the photo above, the November, 1960 issue (far left) was priced at $1.00; the July, 1954 issue (second from left) at 65¢; and from then backwards each magazine was a whopping 25¢. Today’s magazines don’t disclose their individual price, but a yearly subscription at $15 is not too shabby considering it was $8/yr in 1960, up from $6.50 in 1954.
The July, 1954 issue’s first featured article is titled, “Triumph on Everest,” and the last, “Everyone’s Servant, the Post Office”; July, 1898 (far right in the photo above), on the other hand, saw “American Geographic Education” and “The Geologic Atlas of the United States” as the first and last articles.
If You Happen To Want To Live in Felpham, West Sussex
We are not brokers, but in the spirit of entrepreneurial conservation, and a price tag so seemingly reasonable, we are obliged to bring this to your attention:
Guide Price Of £650,000 Continue reading
Citron Daylily
Citron daylily
Daylilies are considered to be extremely straightforward to grow, even for the most inexperienced gardener. The fragrant lemon-yellow flowers of this species are ideal for night owls, as the small flowers do not open until late afternoon and bloom through the night. Continue reading
Like Water Into Wine
By now everyone knows that availability of potable water is among the most important challenges facing this and coming generations. Thanks to the USA-based tax and donor-funded National Public Radio for bringing this to our attention:
…A more common technology for removing salt and other impurities from water is known as reverse osmosis, which uses lots of energy to produce the extremely high pressure required to force raw water through a semi-permeable membrane. You can see a diagram of how it works here. Continue reading
Bird of the Day: Eastern Bluebird (Estabrook Park, Milwaukee)
Hampi Bazaar – Karnataka
Photo credits :Ramesh Kidangoor
Hampi is one of the most frequently visited tourist sites in Karnataka state and India’s most prominent Heritage sites. This village in Northern Karnataka is the former capital of the Vijayanagar Empire. Continue reading
From Behind the Wheel: Hanuman Special Delivery
Allepey District
Fruit, Every Day, Everywhere
We appreciate the reminder provided by one of the Atlantic’s many talented writers, about a topic we have had more than passing interest in for the last couple years. Our own previous mention of this film, and the phenomenon make this article no less interesting:
There are more than a thousand banana species in the world, but you’ve probably only ever tasted one. The Cavendish banana is the one we know and love. It’s the one the international banana economy is based on–the only species that’s exported from one country to another, anywhere in the world. But its extinction is coming… Continue reading
Female – Los Quetzales, Panama
Bird of the Day: White-throated Mountain Gem
Alaska, Brown Bear And Salmon Via Camera Trap
We had already come to the conclusion that camera traps are valuable for the sake of conservation. Thanks to the Guardian‘s coverage of these bears and the camera trap provided by a generous foundation to a worthy recipient:
Caught on camera trap: brown bears feast on salmon – in pictures
Explore.org has launched a summer salmon bearcam to stream live video from Brooks river in Alaska’s Katmai national park. Organisers hope for the first time to record the entire salmon run, from the frenzied dash upstream in July through to the autumn months
Collaborative Poaching-Patrol
The Hindu— File Photo
We’ve written about the importance of forest stewards before, primarily because in many cases they straddle the roles of guard and guide within the territories they protect. But many of those protected areas in India are suffering from severe shortages of qualified field staff, putting enormous areas of land, not to mention the wildlife that call it home, at risk.
But the Karnataka Eco-Tourism Development Board is initiating an innovative plan to train volunteers to be forest naturalists who will assist the forestry department a minimum of two weeks per year in their anti-poaching activities.
In order to create this pool of trained volunteers, the Karnataka Eco-Tourism Development Board is offering, for the first time in the country, three- and four-day Naturalist and Volunteer Training. The board is offering the training programme in association with Jungle Lodges and Resorts Ltd. Continue reading
Dietary Geography Lessons
![[image]](https://i0.wp.com/si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-XW468_expert_A_20130617183027.jpg)
Continuing the conversation about diet with experts (click the image for the source), who are asked what single change they would recommend:
Jeffrey Flier: With Caveats, Consider a ‘Mediterranean Diet’
This is a tough question to answer, for many reasons. Here are three:
1) Diet is extremely complex. Continue reading
Pink Rose
Photo credits: Eldhose
Pink Roses are popularly crop for commercial and domestic cut flowers. This low-growing climber is well-suited to cooler regions and therefore is very commonly found in the High Ranges of Kerala. Pink Roses are good repeat bloomer.
Bird of the Day: Peacock (Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka)
Coracle – Traditional Boats
Photo credits : Ramesh Kidangoor
Coracles are local fishing crafts that are circular and ideal for navigating river waters. These traditional vessels are made out of reeds and the design is believed to have been used for centuries. They are mainly used for fishing and river crossings. Continue reading
It’s About The Collaboration
All six minutes are a pleasure, but the last few seconds resonate across time and space:
This past fall, Yolanda Cuomo, a New York-based artist and graphic designer, learned that she had to vacate her Chelsea studio of twenty-five years. Continue reading
From Behind the Wheel: Shoreline Sidesaddle
Pondicherry Beach Road; Photo credit: Ramesh Kidangoor
Organikos 